


She-Ra Highschool AU (title pending)

by Fandom_Brat



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:34:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24298186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandom_Brat/pseuds/Fandom_Brat
Summary: Two rival schools in the town of Ethyria. Brightmoon and Horde High. Now, each school has rival teams in all sports categories...but the rivalry comes in the way each school treats each other. When Horde superstar, Adora GraySkull, moves across town and has to transfer schools, she finds some new friends, but lives with the guilt of having to leave her old ones behind.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 84





	1. Unsettling News

**Author's Note:**

> Adora gets some bad news from her aunt.

_“Hey, mom, can you come get me from the sleepover?” a small child whispered into a phone, “I miss you,”_

_The woman on the other end laughed softly. “Okay, dear, your dad and I will be there soon,”_

_The girl waited outside her friend’s house and climbed into the little, red car as it pulled up, a woman and man that resembled her in the front. “Thank you, mom. Thank you, dad,”_

_The man smiled and drove off as the woman climbed into the backseat with the girl. “Hey, sweetheart, you okay?”_

_She nodded. “Yes...I just missed you guys. I don’t like not having my mom and dad,”_

_The woman smiled softly and held her face before looking up at a horn. There was a sudden flash and the car came to a screeching halt and-_

Adora was jerked awake from her nightmare by someone shaking her arm rather roughly, a hiss in her ear.

“Adora- you’re gonna get caught,” Catherine, or Catra, as everyone called her, hissed, “Wake up,”

Adora slowly sat up and looked around. She was in her math class in Horde, her highschool. The grey walls were pretty familiar, and so were the rows of desks lined perfectly to prevent disorder. The teacher was droning on about some sort of equation that Adora already knew about, so she turned back to her best friend.

“Catra, you scared me,” she mumbled, snorting to herself as she slowly woke up. Bags were heavy under her grey eyes.

Catra paused and inspected her face with her mismatched eyes before sighing. “You didn’t get any sleep last night...did you?” She phrased it like a question, but she already knew the answer.

Adora yawned once again and shook her head. “More nightmares…” she mumbled tiredly, “Of mom and dad...and that night…”

Catra opened her mouth but was interrupted by the bell. “Alright, class! Out! Test is on Tuesday!” the teacher barked as everyone packed up to get out of that room.

Catra snorted and slung an arm around Adora’s shoulder as the blonde girl got her books. “You wanna hang out after school? Study?”

Adora laughed happily as she left with her best friend. “Are you kidding? Of course! Aunt Mara said she had a surprise for me that might make us both happy,”

“Yes!” Catra yelled, fist in the air with a jump as the two walked down the crowded hall to English class

Adora just watched as her friend went around greeting the other students as they passed, smiling to herself. She had always liked how energetic Catra was whenever she was happy, how big her smile was, and how puffy her cheeks got. It made Adora weak.

Her daydreaming came to a halt when Catra suddenly stopped and calmed down to an almost scared demeanour. She looked up and saw Catra’s guardian and their chemistry teacher, S.H. Weaver, staring down at the formerly happy girl.

“Catherine, what have I said to you about horseplaying in the halls?” She hissed at the teen. Her voice reminded Adora of poisoned honey; sweet, but with something awful hidden within.

Catra huffed and rolled her eyes to try and hide her fear. “It’s not like I was bothering anyo-”

Weaver cut her off with a sharp wave of her hand, amking the girl flinch slightly. “It was bothering _me_ ,” she snapped, “Now...go to class before you get detention and a grounding,”

The poor girl stared up at her and swallowed. “Yes, ma’am,” she said, trying to sound tough as the woman walked away.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Catra growled and snatched Adora’s hand. “Like she has anything to ground me from, she doesn’t give me shit,” she muttered quietly as she sat in English class. She nearly flinched at a hand on her before relaxing when she realized it was Adora’s warm touch.

“She can’t take away your phone if you pay for it and she can’t keep you from going outside,” she said with a smile at her best friend, “You’re too stubborn,”

Catra let the hand on her shoulder stay for a second before brushing it off with a scoff. “I know, I’m just that good,” she said, reclining in her chair.

Adora watched her friend and laughed to herself before starting to take notes for them both, knowing Catra wouldn’t.

“Catra! Wait up!” Adora called, running after her friend as she darted across the street towards Adora’s house.

“Don’t worry, Adora! I’m fine, it’s not like I’m gonna d-” Catra paused as Adora approached, tears in the blonde’s eyes, “Oh...that’s right, sorry,”

She swallowed thickly and rubbed her eyes. “It’s alright...let’s go,” she said, putting on a smile and suddenly shoving the tanned girl, “Race ya down the block!” And she ran.

Catra grinned and raced after her, shoving her slightly as she passed her. “Come on, slow poke!” she yelled, zooming towards where Adora lived.

Said girl laughed and ran after, tackling her against the front steps. “You cheated!” she laughed out.

“You shoved me first!” Catra yelled happily as she got up, snorting, “Come on, Mara is probably worried,”

Adora nodded and used her house key to open the door and walk inside of the house. 

The inside was warm and smelled like plants, succulents and candles everywhere within the confines of the warm, teal walls. There was a soft humming coming from the kitchen, Adora’s grandmother, Razz, emerging with a tray of cookies.

“Oh, hello, Mara,” she said, smiling behind the big, round glasses she wore, “Weren’t you just in the office?”

“No, Razz,” Adora said, kissing her wrinkled cheek, “It’s Adora, not Aunt Mara,”

“Ah,” Razz said, smiling as she offered the girls some cookies, “I thought you looked shorter,”

“Mom,” a soft voice said, coming down the stairs, “We got you those glasses for a reason,”

“Oh, Mara, dearie,” Razz said as the woman came down to snag a cookie, “You know I don’t need these! I can see just fine,”

“Okay, mom, whatever you say,” She said before turning to the girls. 

Adora was grinning ear to ear, obviously very excited while Catra had an arm around her shoulders, eating a cookie. “So?” Adora squealed, “What’s the surprise you have?”

“Yeah, what’s this big surprise?” Catra asked with a slight smirk, also happy.

The older woman smiled and pulled the girls to the living room to sit on the soft, brown couch. “Girls...you know that job I applied to at the big hospital in town?”

They both nodded with wide eyes, but each with different emotions.

“Well…” Mara paused for suspense, “I got it! I start next week!”

Adora gasped and jumped up. “Really!? Aunt Mara, that’s awesome!” she yelled and hugged the older woman.

Catra, on the other hand, was seething silently. “Oh...that’s a rather long drive to work everyday…”

Mara slowly detangled herself from her excited niece. “That’s...the other part of the surprise,” she said, still trying for a smile, “We’re moving a little further into the city,”

Adora’s smile slowly faded. “Wait- we’re moving…?” she whispered, slowly realizing what that meant, “But...will I still be able to go to school?”

Mara shook her head. “We’re moving into the other school zone...you’re going to be going to school at Brightmoon High,”


	2. Brightmoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora promises Catra she won't leave her behind, then sees what her new school is like

“Brightmoon High!?” The two teen girls yelled in unison, both of their smiles and excitement long gone.

“But that place is full of stupid princesses who don’t even know how to take care of themselves!”

“They hate people from Horde High! Adora could get seriously bullied!”

Mara sighed to herself, ignoring Razz’s mumbles of how she knew they’d both be mad. “Girls...I know this is a big change, but this is a really big opportunity for me to advance in the healthcare field,”

Adora was trying not to cry angry tears. “So we’re just leaving in a week? That’s it?”

The older woman nodded. “I’ve already packed your clothes and such...all you have to do is your other belongings,”

Adora shook her head and sighed, head jerking up suddenly when a brown blur of hair flew past her face and up the stairs. She followed it and the sound of angry crying into her room, where Catra was tearing open packed boxes and flinging clothes everywhere.

“Catra!” she yelped, running over and pulling her hands away, “Don’t do tha-”

“Shut up!” Catra yelled through the tears, “Shut up! You aren’t leaving me!”

Adora sighed and hugged her, surprised when she was shoved off. “Catra...I don’t really have a choice,” she mumbled quietly as he began to repack the clothes, “I don’t like it either, but-”

“Then don’t go!” Catra yelled, trying to wrestle the clothes from her hands, “Stay here!”

“I can’t!” Adora yelled and shoved her clothes back in with a sniffle, “You could come with us...ran away from Weaver,”

The other girl glared at her and bit back a laugh. “You really think I’d be able to survive that?” she asked shakily, glaring at the blonde, “As soon as she finds out I ran away, she’d have my head,”

Adora frowned and looked down. “We...you can still come visit,” she said, reaching for her hand, “We can still meet up around town,”

Catra snatched her hand away and curled up tightly with her face in her knees. “What’s the point if I can’t see you all the time?” she hissed.

She frowned and looked down as she began to pack her things away in boxes. “I’m sorry, Catra, but maybe this will be good,”

“How?” the sulking girl muttered, glaring at a space on the wall.

Adora watched her with a slight smile before sitting beside her. “I could find out their secrets,” she said in a teasing tone, “Get dirt on them and tell you, so that everyone at Fright Zone knows,”

Catra gave a slight smile at that and set her head on Adora’s shoulders. “Okay...that’s a good point…” she mumbled, still not happy with it. She curled up against her friend quietly.

Adora held her. “Hey...I promise you’ll still be my best friend in the whole world,” she said with a small laugh.

The other girl laughed quietly and pushed her cheek with her hand. “I better, you idiot,” she said, shoving her off playfully.

Adora laughed and jumped on her, the two wrestling happily against the floor. They ended up with Catra sitting on Adora’s stomach, tongue out in victory.

“I win!”

“Only because I let you,”

“Nuh-uh! I always win when we wrestle,”

“Not always,”

Adora laughed and shoved her off before pausing when a ringing came from her friend’s phone. Catra picked it up and sighed as she swiped the alarm away.

“I have to get home…” she muttered and stood, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

Adora stood with her and hugged her. “I’ll meet you tomorrow at the park after school for ice cream, okay?” she said, pulling back and holding her fist out.

Catra smiled slightly and shoved her palm into her fist. “Of course, you’re buying,” she said, grinning as she ran out of the house. 

As she left, Catra silently let the tears fall. She had faith that Adora wouldn’t leave her, but she was worried about how the other students at Brightmoon High would react to someone from Horde.

Adora hopped out of the car and stared up at her new school in fear. It was nothing like Horde High. It wasn’t square and easy to understand, but bright and colourful, the building shaped weird. The students around her were talking with one another and everything was loud, making Adora’s ears hurt. They had never been allowed to be this loud at Horde High.

Some students gave Adora funny looks as she walked through the hall, but that was a given with what she was wearing. She had kept a hold of her Horde uniform, the black pants and white shirt with a red jacket, the Horde’s school symbol on the back. She refused to let herself fall prey to the school she was now in.

Glaring at her new schedule, Adora found her first class, English, and sat in the back to observe. Everyone was talking with a friend, the noise in the classroom loud and obnoxious. She...couldn’t tell if she liked it or not. 

She was snapped out of her daydreams by a hand suddenly slamming down on her desk. She followed the pink nails up the arm of a chubby girl with a very angry expression. 

She had pink and purple hair with what looked like glitter in it, as well as some very loud makeup, glitter across her nose and cheeks, like freckles blended in with her actual freckles. She was wearing a pink shirt over a long-sleeved purple shirt, her denim shorts hugging her legs. In short, she was the definition of a princess.

“What are you doing here?” she snapped at Adora, eyes narrowed.

Adora could tell from the stance she was popular, but she held her ground. “I’m learning,  _ princess _ ,” she hissed, spitting out the last word like it was disgusting.

The girl fumed. “And  _ why _ , Horde scum?” she hissed back, mouth curled into a grimace at the sight of her.

She opened her mouth before getting interrupted by a dark hand wrapping around one of the sparkly girl’s arms.

“Glimmer,” a boy said carefully, gently pulling the arm off of Adora’s desk, “Be nice,”

The boy was darker than the girl, his purple hair cut into a square on top of his head. He had on a bright yellow and red jacket over a white shirt, everything about him kinda bright and shiny. It made Adora’s eyes water. She had never seen someone dress like that. Or dress like either of them.

“I will not!” The girl, Glimmer, snapped at the boy, yanking her arm away, “She’s from Horde!”

“Listen,  _ princess _ ,” Adora said, gagging at the word, “I wouldn’t be here if I had a choice, trust me,”

Glimmer growled and glared at the blonde girl, daggers for eyeballs.

The boy broke the tension with a smile and his soft voice. “So you transferred here?” he asked, hand out to Adora. The smile turned into a frown when she flinched. 

“Yeah, not happy with it,” she muttered, pushing his hand away.

He nodded slowly before trying another smile. “I’m Bow,” he said cheerfully, “And this is Glimmer,”

“Bow!” Glimmer hissed, putting a hand on his mouth, “Don’t give her our names!”

“What?” Adora said with a growl, “Afraid I’m gonna use it to control you? I’m not a fae,”

The two girls glared at each other for a long time before being snapped out of it by the bell, signalling class was to start. Adora watched as the two took their places near her, growling at both of them. She already missed Catra.

  
  


Catra silently did her classwork, head full of what Adora could be doing and if she was holding her own at Brightmoon High. “She better…” she mumbled to herself as she listened to people whisper about her friend being gone, “We already miss you,”


	3. Friends Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra's emotions get the better of her and she lashes out, starting a bad path.

Adora walked into the new house with her books close to her chest. It was nothing like the old house, the walls were bare and it didn’t smell like her family. She hated it so far.

She just stalked upstairs and put her bag on the floor, next to where her bed would be. If they ever got it set up and built. While moving, it was just a mattress on the floor with her white and grey sheets on it.

Moving to do her homework, Adroa picked up her phone to text Catra. She snorted at the stupid picture she had set- it was a selfie Catra had taken when she stole her phone, her tongue out and cat ears dlipped into her thick hair. Adora hadn’t changed it in the three years it had been there.

[Catra]: on a scale of 1-10 how much do u hate it there

[Adora]: A girl in almost all of my classes called my “Horde scum”

[Catra]: yr serious

[Catra]: like those princesses r any beter

[Adora]: Right! Ugh! I hate it! 

[Adora]: At least I don’t have too much homework, then I’ll head to the park

[Catra]: meet me there in 10?

[Adora]: You know it.

She smiled slightly at her phone and got to work. So far, the only thing she actually liked about Brightmoon High is that there wasn’t a lot of homework given each day. A page from each class, sometimes none at all from what she heard. That’s way less than what they gave at Horde High.

She finished up pretty quickly compared to normal and grabbed her wallet to head out to the park.

The park she and Catra hung out in wasn’t exactly the main park in the city. It took a little bit to get to, but that’s where all of the Horde High kids hung out. It was a small section of grass contained in a concrete border, no flowers or playground equipment or benches around. There were a few trees dotted within the grass, most of the kids lying under them for shade in their uniforms.

Adora didn’t even have to look around, she already knew which tree was claimed by her and her friends. It was the biggest tree, to support their weight, because they were always climbing, which was what Catra was doing at that moment.

She was lounging on a branch above three kids that Adora instantly recognized: Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle, kids in the same foster home as Catra.

Lonnie was a black girl with her braids tied up into a ponytail, her uniform ruffled slightly. Rogelio was slightly lighter than Lonnie, eczema coating almost every inch of his body, like scales. Kyle was about as pasty as anyone could get, his blond hair covering his eyes as he curled against Rogelio, like he was hiding.

Adora grinned and ran up to them. “Hey guys!” she called, pulling out some cash, “Who wants ice cream?”

They all let out cheers and pumped their fists up.

“Yes! Finally!” Lonnie yelled with a grin, “You know what flavor I want,”

Rogelio nodded, Adora knew he always liked pistachio.

“I-I wanna try chocolate this time,” Kyle said, deviating from his usual vanilla.

“And I’ll come with you,” Catra said, swinging down from the tree to land beside her bestie.

Adora smiled and led her off toward the ice cream stand while the others began to talk between themselves.

The two girls walked down the street towards their favorite ice cream store.

“So…” Adora began, nudging Catra, “You been able to survive without me at school?”

She laughed a bit and nudged back. “You act like I miss you or something,” she said, grinning, “I’m fine. But you? Oh you must be going crazy,”

Adora came to the line in the shop and hummed in thought. “Not really, actually,” she said, going over her day, “Yeah, a lot of people were pretty rude, but the actual work and at general atmosphere is kinda cool,”

The more Adora talked, the lower Catra’s smile got, until it was a scowl aimed at her friend. “So, what? Does that mean you like it there now?” she hissed, crossing her arms.

“What? No! It just means th- one coffee, one pistachio, two chocolate, and a cookie dough,” she said to the cashier as they got to the front.

“Of course it does, you have actual good things to say about it,” Catra muttered, “You like it there and soon you’ll leave and get some new friends,”

“Catra, you know that isn’t true. I promised I’d be your best friend,” Adora said quietly, feeling a bit hurt that her friend would think that about her. She took the ice cream and paid before walking out, Catra following in her wake.

“Then what’s so great about that place anyway?” she growled out, sulking as they walked the block.

Adora sighed. “Well….everything,” she mumbled, but quickly continued, “Except for the fact that I don’t have any friends there. I’d like it if you could be there with me,”

Her friend scoffed. “Yeah, right,” she muttered, “Like I’d ever go there,”

And with that, the two fell into an awkward silence until they got back to the group. Adora handed out the ice cream and talked with everyone, watching as Catra climbed the tree and sat in the upper branches away from everyone. Both girls ignored how much it hurt and continued.

_ “What do you think you’re doing here, orphan?” a boy hissed to a little girl in front of him. _

_ “I’m playing!” she snapped at him, growling slightly. _

_ “Oh yeah? With who? Who would be friends with a kid who wasn’t even wanted by her parents?”  _

_ The little girl blinked and stopped, trying to blink back tears before looking up when another girl stepped up. “I would!” _

_ The boy turned to the blonde and sneered. “Oh yeah?” he snapped, “And why’s that?” _

_ She growled and punched the boy across the nose. “Because she isn’t a bully like you!” she yelled, watching him scramble away. She huffed and glared after him before going to sit with the other girl, who was staring at her in awe. _

_ “Wow! You...you really wanna be friends with me…?” she whispered, wiping her face and adjusting the cat-ear headband on her head. _

_ The blonde one nodded and sat beside her with her hand out. “Yeah! I’m Adora,” she said. _

_ “I’m Catherine,” the other said happily, shaking her hand. _

_ Adora looked at her headband and giggled. “I’m gonna call you Catra,” she said cheerfully, “Because you’re a cat, but super cool!” _

_ Catherine grinned wide. “I love it!” she said before frowning, everything around them fading as they grew, “Why would you hurt me?” _

_ Adora blinked and wiped her face. “I wouldn’t! I just-” _

_ “No! You don’t wanna be friends anymore!” Catra yelled and stormed off down the dark hall. _

_ “Wait!” Adora yelled and ran after her, but, no matter how quickly she ran, Cara just got further and further away. She felt the ground disappear beneath her and she fell. _

Adora sat up in bed with a yell and stared off at the wall, wiping her eyes. 


	4. Changes. For better or worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora and Catra slowly begin to change as people, but whether those changes are good are bad is a different matter

Adora walked the halls, silently ignoring every hateful look that came her way because of her clothes. She hated it, but she refused to take them off, she didn’t have very many outfits that weren’t her Horde uniform. It was what she had and it helped her connect with who she was...or who she missed.

She sat down in English silently and opened her book, swallowing down any pity for herself, even when she saw someone coming over out of the corner of her eye.

It was the boy from the day before, and he looked a little sheepish. “Hey...Adora, right?” he asked, sitting in the desk beside hers.

She glanced up and nodded silently before returning to her book, wondering why he was talking to her.

He grinned. “Well, I’m Bow, if you forgot, but I just wanted to say, welcome to Brightmoon High!” He said cheerfully, placing something on her head.

She instantly tensed, having expected some sort of liquid. What she didn’t expect was something slightly soft, but strange around the top. 

She pulled it off and stared at what he had placed on her head. It was a halo of green with red flowers intertwined into it. It..it was beautiful.

She must’ve looked really confused, because the boy, Bow, frowned.

“It’s a flower crown,” he said, tapping the red buds, “These are roses,”

She rose a brow and silently put it back on her head. “I expected you to dump something on my head. Like milk,” she said quietly.

She jumped when he gasped. “Why would I do that!?” he cried, almost actually crying, “Is...is that what people at your school did?”

She nodded. “Yeah, we played pranks on each other...whether we knew them or not,”

He gasped again and opened his mouth to say more before jumping at a hand on his shoulder. 

It was the girl from the other day, Glimmer, as Adora had remembered. “Bow!” she said, “What are you doing talking to her?”

He whined and turned to his female friend. “She gets pranked at school!” he cried dramatically, “Glimmer, can she hang out with us after school today?”

Adora slightly perked up at the idea, but immediately shut back down when Glimmer scoffed, almost offended.

“Why- but-” she tried for an excuse that didn’t make her sound bad, but ended with, “I’m sure she has other Horde scum friends she’d rather hang out with,”

“Actually,” Adora said, narrowing her eyes, “I...actually don’t think my friends want to hang out with me,”

Before Glimmer could say anything, Bow gasped in delight. “Yes! You can come hang out with us! We usually drive to get frozen yogurt or just hang out in the park, if that’s okay with you!”

Adora paused her skepticism to look the two over. Glimmer made her uncomfortable with the way she looked at her, but Bow actually made her smile? She couldn’t explain it, but she really wanted to spend more time with the two of them.

“Sure,” she said, jumping at the bell to signal class. She waved at Bow as the friends sat, feeling a little lighter.

  
  


Catra got up at the bell almost instantly, having no reason to hang around in her classes anymore. Before she could get out the door, a cold hand came down on her shoulder to stop her.

“Catherine,” Weaver said near her ear, making the hairs on the back of Catra’s neck stand on end.

The girl swallowed thickly and turned to face her guardian and chemistry teacher. “Yes, Shadow Weaver?” she muttered, smiling slightly at the nickname she had given the horrible woman.

Said woman growled but continued speaking. “I’ve noticed that Adora hasn’t been attending classes,” she said lowly, “Where is she?”

“Didn’t you hear?” Catra said bitterly, the absence of her friend leaving a slice through her heart, “She moved. Transferred schools. She goes to Brightmoon now,”

Even though Weaver’s face was hidden behind a mask, Catra could already tell there was a scowl inside. She had been hearing that scowl for years now, she could tell when it was there. And it usually was.

“Hmm,” Weaver mumbled to herself, “I see...will you two be remaining friends? I’d like to be able to at least keep  _ some _ tie to my favorite girl,”

At those last words, Catra made a split-second decision for her response. “No,” she said, trying not to shake from the thought, “No, we won’t be remaining friends,”

She barely registered Weaver’s disappointed scoff. “Fine. Get to class,” she snapped, going to her desk.

Catra stood there for a moment longer before leaving the room, ignoring the stars coming from the students that slowly filed into Weaver’s classroom for the next class. She didn’t care if she was late for her next class, just sitting down in her desk and ignoring the stares she got from students and teachers alike.

  
  


Adora walked out of the building at the end of the school day, looking around. She had been told by Bow to look for the car with golden accents, but she couldn’t seem to spot it between all the different coloured cars in the school parking lot. She kinda liked how individual each student was and how they showed it.

“Adora!” someone yelled, shocking her out of her thought process.

She looked up to see Bow and Glimmer standing near a car with the exact description he’d given to her, both with different reactions to seeing the blonde. Bow was waving wildly, a big grin on his face, while Glimmer had her arms crossed, scowling down at her own shoes. Adora silently prayed that this would change as she walked over to them. 

“Hey…” she mumbled quietly, standing in front of them with a straight back.

Bow burst into squeals. “Yes! Come on, get in the car and we can go get frozen yogurt,” he said, climbing into the driver’s seat.

Glimmer snorted and got into the passenger’s seat, glancing at Adora, who had been frozen in her spot, staring at the car in awe. “You getting in?”

She blinked. “This- it’s  _ your _ car!?” she yelled, looking it over with wide eyes and a slightly dropped jaw.

The two friends paused and shared a confused look. 

“Well, yeah,” Bow said sheepishly, “I know it’s not much but my dads got what they could-”

“What do you  _ mean _ not that much?” Adora asked, climbing into the back seat with wide eyes, “I didn’t even know kids could actually have cars,”

Glimmer frowned and turned in her seat to stare at the beaming girl. “Well, yeah, most kids here who can drive do, and usually with their own cars,”

She gasped. “No way! At Horde, only the adults had cars,” she whispered, feeling the seat she wasn’t on, “This is so cool,”

Glimmer blinked to herself and sat back down as Bow drove out of the parking lot. She thought ‘How could she go to a school where only the adults had cars?’ She knew that the people at Horde High were pretty poor, but she couldn’t comprehend that not even one kid there would have a car to use. It just sounded so weird.

Bow cleared his throat when everyone had resolved into either awed or confused silence. “So! Adora, what’s your favorite flavor combo of fro-yo?”

“Oh I’ve never actually had that,” said girl said, looking up, “So I don’t really know,”

He blinked before grinning. “So we get to open up your mind to new possibilities?” he asked with sparkling eyes.

“Hmm, yeah,” Adora said, shrugging, “I guess so,”

He grinned and kept driving towards the little store.

  
  


Catra sat in her tree, the trio below worried about how she was acting without Adora there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone, go look up reinaeiry on YT! They have written some amazing, original songs for She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and all of them are so good! 
> 
> Also, make sure to check me out on TikTok, @fandombrat, I cosplay as well as post some dumb stuff to make people smile.


	5. Brain freeze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora, Bow, and Glimmer are out having frozen yogurt, but it can bring back some painful memories. And headaches.

Adora stared at the paper bowl of frozen yogurt in her hands, something she had been told were called gummy bears on top. “So...what flavor is it again?” she asked carefully.

Bow looked up from his own mouth full of frozen treats. “Birthday cake,” he said happily, “Same as Glimmer’s,”

Said girl glanced up, spoon halfway to her open mouth. It was almost comical and made Adora snort.

“Okay,” she said and put a bite on the spoon, looking it over.

It was off-white with some colourful dots inside of it, so it didn’t look too bad. Still, it was new to Adora, so she was a bit apprehensive about eating it.

She slowly opened her mouth and put the spoon and creamy treat into her mouth before her eyes lit up. It was sweet and soft in her mouth, melting slightly on her tongue. She loved it. 

“So, I’m assuming you like it?” Glimmer asked, watching Adora shovel the fro-yo into her mouth, “Be careful, though, or you’ll get-”

She was cut off as Adora suddenly yelped, dropping her bowl to the table and holding her temples. “Ow! Fuck! No!” she whined, pressing her thumb to the roof of her mouth.

Glimmer and Bow watched, each one wincing at the memories of when it happened to them.

Adora whined slightly before slowly calming down. “Ow...I forgot that frozen stuff does that…” she mumbled quietly.

“Yeah, it hurts,” Bow said, “You okay?”

She nodded and continued to eat, slower this time. The whole thing reminded her of the first time she had ever gotten a brain freeze.

_ “Okay, girls,” Mara said, handing two cones to the two girls sitting on the front steps, “Here’s your treat,” _

_ A ten year old Adora took her treat quietly, rubbing the healing scar on her arm. This was about a year after the accident and she still had a few healing scars. They were celebrating Mara getting custody of her niece. _

_ “Hey, Adora,” Catra said, gently nudging her, “Eat it before it melts,” _

_ The girl looked down at the cone and licked it before gasping and beginning to eat it quickly. Catra licked hers and did the same, gobbling it up. _

_ “Mara glanced back before squeaking. “Girls! Don’t-” _

_ The two paused suddenly while they ate and began to cry, each one dropping their cones. They cried at the horrible pain in their heads, Catra clutching hers with her small hands. _

_ “Make it stop!” she sobbed, kicking her feet. _

_ Mara knelt beside them both and gently took their hands. “Here, girls, watch,” she said, holding a thumb out, “Do what I do,” _

_ Despite the pain, the girls watched her put her thumb to the roof of her mouth, copying the action until the pain went away. _

_ “What was that?” Adora asked quietly, rubbing her temple. _

_ “That’s a brain freeze,” Mara said gently, “It’s what happens when you eat something cold too fast,” _

_ She nodded, turning to Catra. “Let’s never do that again,” she said, starting to giggle.  _

_ Catra did too, her cat headband falling down her head. “Yeah, let’s not,” _

Adora was snapped out of her memories by a hand in her face. She blinked back to reality to see Glimmer’s gloved hand waving in front of her eyes.

“You okay?” the pink haired girl asked carefully, kinda concerned.

“Um...yeah…?” Adora said carefully, finishing her fro-yo, “Why?”

“We’ve been trying to get your attention for a minute or so,” Bow said carefully, “We got concerned,”

She blinked slightly and stared at the two. “You...oh,” she said, looking back down at her empty bowl, “I was...I just remembered something…”

“What was it?” Bow asked, tilting his head. Even Glimmer seemed interested, her cheek resting on her knuckles.

Adora looked between the two beside her and slowly realized she trusted them. They were just people, not the bullies and rich-bitch kids she had grown up thinking they were. Just normal, like her.

She took a breath. “I just remembered my first brain freeze,” she said, chuckling quietly, “I was ten and my…” she paused at the word ‘friend’ before swallowing. “Me and my friend, Catra, both got one and dropped our ice cream onto the front steps,”

“Aww!” Bow squealed slightly, “That sounds so cute!” 

She laughed quietly and rubbed her eyes. “Yeah- yeah it was,” she said before shaking her head and letting out a breath, “But that was a while ago,”

Bow and Glimmer glanced at each other and both made a silent agreement to try not to ask about this Catra person. They could both see pretty quickly that it was a touchy subject for their new friend.

“Well- it’s been about an hour since we left school,” Bow said, standing, “Do you need a ride home, Adora?”

She glanced at them and shook her head. “No, that’s okay,” she said, standing as well, “I don’t live too far from here and...I kinda wanna be alone with my thoughts,”

He nodded and took Glimmer’s hand. “Okay,” he said before snapping and getting two pieces of paper, “Here. In case you need us,” He handed Adora the papers and smiled. 

She looked down at them and saw two sets of numbers, one labeled ‘Bow’ and the other labeled ‘Glimmer’. It was their numbers.

She looked up to see them both smiling, even if Bow’s was a bit more warm than Glimmer’s.

“Thanks,” she said happily, putting them in her pocket, “I’ll text you later,”

“Great,” Bow said, opening his arms and wrapping around Adora. He yelped when he was suddenly pushed off, Adora’s hands up in defense.

“Shit- sorry,” she said, curling up, “Sorry- I don’t usually get hugs from new people…”

Glimmer glared slightly and held Bow’s arm, stepping back from the blonde. “Oh…”

Bow just brushed himself off. “That’s okay, we haven’t known each other very long,” he held his hand out to shake.

Adora glanced at it and took it, shaking quietly before turning to Glimmer. The two shared a slightly awkward look before Adora turned and left the building.

  
  


Adora walked down the street quietly, hugging her red jacket to her torso. It had gotten cold since she had left the company of her acquaintances, making her shiver under the thin lining of her clothes. She didn’t like it, but she had to get home.

She turned a corner and blinked, suddenly realizing she had gone the wrong way. She was in her old neighborhood.

“Hey, Adora,” a sly voice said behind her, making her turn around.

She was faced with Catra, who sported a new bruise on her cheek and a scowl. She didn’t look very good.

“What are you doing here? You don’t live here anymore,” Catra hissed, pushing her away from the row of houses, “Go back,”

“I…” the words died in Adora’s throat as she stared at her old friend, realizing she missed her.

She glared at the blonde and shoved her again. “Go!” she yelled, pushing her away, “You...what are you even doing here?”

Adora blinked and stepped forward with a frown. “I just made a wrong turn going home, I don’t-”

“Don’t what?” Catra snapped, “Don’t want to be here? Don’t think you belong anymore after you’ve seen “the light” and gotten new friends?”

She stared at her friend before sighing. “I just...didn’t mean to come here, I didn’t mean to get here,”

The girl in front of her glared. “Go away. Can’t you see it hurts?” she muttered.

Adora frowned before blinking. “Wait- what are  _ you _ doing here?” she asked, “You live a whole three blocks away,”

Catra blinked and tensed before looking down. “Shut up, I don’t miss you,” she muttered, shouldering her hard as she ran off towards her group home.

The blonde blinked and reached out to her before thinking better of it and walking off too. She paused at a bus stop and waited quietly, trying to stop her tears. 

Climbing onto the bus, she curled up and waited for her stop at her new house, realizing why it didn’t feel like home yet.

  
  


Catra stared at herself in the mirror, examining the bruise on her cheek. She had gotten into a fight at school that day, no one around to cool her down before she hit the boy. 

She stared at it before spotting something on the counter. Her nail polish, a gift from Adora. She stared at it for a moment before picking it up and throwing it as hard as she could against the wall. It shattered instantly, bits of glass flying everywhere and the black gunk oozing down the wall.

Catra screamed and punched the wall where she had hit it, shaking and crying. She missed Adora so much, but she was so angry that she left. Angry that she left her alone in a school full of people who hate her. Angry that she won’t help keep her from fighting anymore. Angry that she now has to deal with Weaver alone. Angry she wouldn’t see her friend as often. Angry she had left her in the first place.

She took a deep breath and glared at the glass mixed with the polish and blood before turning on her heel out of the bathroom. Someone else would clean it.


	6. Broken Bonds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora and Catra both look to their guardians about what to do, but each get very different advice.

Adora stared at her phone, the light burning her eyes in the darkness, but she couldn’t care less at that moment. She was scrolling through old pictures of her and Catra as kids. Most of them were pretty normal, selfies taken on old phones or surprise pictures taken by each other or other people, but in every single one of them, they were always touching each other.

Their selfies would have them squishing their cheeks against one another’s or someone holding an arm or one of their heads on the other’s shoulder. Pictures taken by different people caught them hugging or holding hands or bumping one another or full on lying across the other. If one of them took the picture with just the other, you could always see them holding hands barely in frame. They had never wanted to be apart for even a moment.

Adora took a deep breath and checked the time. Two in the morning. Dammit. She had stayed up too late again.

She sighed and got up, going to the kitchen to get a drink of water before trying to sleep again. It was dark, so she turned the light above the oven on, so it wasn’t bright enough to wake anyone else.

“Mara, dearie, what are you doing awake?”

Adora jumped and nearly fell into the trash before sighing at seeing her grandmother on a chair in the dining room. “It’s Adora, not Aunt Mara,” she said, getting her cup, “And I couldn’t sleep,”

“Oh, you poor dear, what happened?” Razz asked, watching Adora walk over with her cup.

The young girl sighed and sipped her water. “I’ve been feeling really guilty,” she whispered, wiping her eyes, “About having to leave behind my friends,”

“Why would you feel guilty about something you cannot control?” the older one asked, tilting her head in genuine confusion.

She blinked and looked down at her cup. “Because...I’m making new friends now...and I don’t want to forget any of my old ones…” She watched the ice swirl around in the water, seeing images of her and her friends hanging out in the cracks made as the cube heated up. She quickly looked away from it and took a breath.

“And you cannot have both?” Razz asked, snapping Adora back to reality, to their dining room table in their barely decorated dining room.

She stared at her grandmother and bit her lip, going back to thinking. Glimmer and Bow had been so nice and she wanted to stay friends with them, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was the way Catra was going to react. She had always wanted Adora only to herself, she only wanted her to be her best friend, no matter what…

_ “Catra!” Adora called, her little eight year old feet padding across the hall floor in their elementary school, “Come on, I know you didn’t mean to hit Lonnie, she was just trying to be nice,” _

_ She looked around before spotting an open janitor’s closet and going to look. She found a small Catra huddled in the corner next to a mop, her headband falling forward against her knees where her face was tucked.  _

_ Adora knelt beside her. “Catra...come on, let’s go back to the playground,” she said gently, causing her friend to lift her head, “You can say your sorry and we can-” _

_ She got cut off as Catra shoved her away and back out into the hallway. She yelped and held her face where a small line formed after having gotten caught on one of Catra’s nails. _

_ Catra glared at her and sniffled, going back into her hiding spot, crying into her knees again. _

_ Adora stared at her before crawling back in slowly. “Please…?” she said gently, “It’ll be lunch time soon…” _

_ “No!” Catra yelled through her tears, looking back up, “Why would you wanna eat with me today after making a new best friend!?”  _

_ Adora blinked before softening. “That’s why you hit her…?” she asked, reaching over to hug her friends, “Catra, no matter who I talk to, you’ll always be my best friend,”  _

_ Catra tensed slightly before hugging back. “You promise…?” _

_ “I promise,” Adora said softly. _

_ The two stayed in there for a few minutes before leaving to go back to the playground, their teacher obviously worried sick about it all. Catra still didn’t say sorry. _

“No...I don’t know if I can…” Adora said to Razz, finishing her water and leaving only the ice cubes, “I want to, but I can’t,”

Razz stared at her granddaughter for a moment before gently taking her hand. “Dearie…” she said gently, “Then make the decision best for you. What you think is right,”

Adora stared at their hands before nodding and biting her lip again. She would have to sleep on it and maybe talk to some people.

“Okay, Razz,” she said, getting up, “Do you need help getting to bed?”

“No,” the old woman said, slowly getting up, “I’ve got Broomie to help me,” She held up an old broom that she’s had for as long as Adora could remember.

She stared at her before nodding once and waving, going back up to her room. Once she got there, she pulled out her phone and opened her messages.

[Adora]: Are we still friends?”

She didn’t expect an answer, it was nearly three in the morning, but she, miraculously, got one immediately.

[Catra]: y? Do u want 2 know so u know not 2 talk 2 me?

She glared at her phone and tried very hard not to cry before taking a deep breath.

[Adora]: That’s all I needed as an answer. Bye Catherine.

She quickly blocked and deleted her contact, blinking back tears rapidly as she hugged her pillow. There was a weight on her chest that made it hard to breathe and she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep after what she had just done.

  
  


Catra stared at her phone with wide eyes, shaking from head to toe. She watched as the last message on her phone disappeared to show that she was blocked. Her best friend in the entire world just left her. And for what? Two people she had known for less than a week.

She could feel her eyes water at the thought and got up and out of her bed, climbing out of the window in her shared room.

The breeze bit at her face and arms, almost warning her to go back inside, but she just wrapped a blanket around herself and climbed higher, going up to the top. There was nothing there but a small hole leading into the attic with a locked door.

Catra climbed in and sat in the cold, dark room silently, thinking to herself before she burst into tears. She hated this room more than she hated Adora, so it distracted her.

This room was where the problem children were sent. Weaver would put them in there and lock the door, keeping them in there as long as she could. During the school week, the longest someone would be in there was a day, but Catra often got sent during break times, getting trapped in there for weeks with just meals coming from the small wedge under the door. She hated it and it was what she needed right then.

A light suddenly shone over her, making her yelp and look up to see Weaver standing there in her night clothes, looking slightly confused.

She jumped up with her blanket wrapped around her shoulders. “Weaver,” she mumbled, “I- um- I was just-”

“Why have you locked yourself in here?” she asked slowly, standing in front of the shaking girl with a slight motherly tone, whether she meant it or not.

Catra swallowed thickly and just stared at her, refusing to talk, because then she’d just break down again.

Weaver looked her over. “It has something to do with Adora, doesn’t it?”

That set the girl off and she rubbed her cheeks dry. “Adora can go suck rocks,” she spat shakily, “She...she made new friends, so now we don’t matter to her anymore,”

The older woman stared down at her before carefully reaching over to hold her cheek. “Adora simply did what she felt was best for her,” she said, the bite in her voice reminding Catra of the wind outside, “If she is leaving you, is it her fault, or yours?” 

Catra blinked slightly and stared up at the woman who raised her before sighing and jerking her head back. “Just...leave me alone. I’ll come out when I’m ready,” she snapped.

Weaver stared at her for a moment longer before shrugging. “If you say so,” she said and turned on her heel, leaving Catra in the dark room to think about what she had just said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every time I write about Weaver, I want to cry bc I hate her so much, in the show or not.


	7. Pride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora finds out about a place in her new school that actually accepts her for who she is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for you, my gay peeps and creeps.

Life at Brightmoon High wasn’t as bad as Adora had originally thought it would be. The teachers were nice and the students were generally accepting of a lot of things that she hadn’t even known about.

It was during her history class that she found out just how accepting most people were.

“So, as most of you know, the general history that most schools try to teach you erases many things, so this unit will be on semi-recent events,” the teacher, George, said before going to start a powerpoint up.

Adora titled her head and glanced around the room to see kids mostly just sitting attentively and some playing with squishy toys. That was another thing she had noticed: the students respected the teachers a lot.

She slowly pulled her gaze back to the board, only to be surprised when the words “Stonewall Riots” came up. Her eyes were the size of dinner plates and she instinctively lowered her head in fear.

“So, does anyone know what these were?” George asked, but snorted when Bow raised his hand, “Bow, you helped me put these together, I know that you know,”

Said boy snorted and stayed quiet, looking surprised when Adora raised her hand.

“They were the riots and protests that helped the gay community the rights we have today,” she said, trying not to let her voice get wobbly, “Started by a trans woman of colour, Marsha P. Johnson,”

George smiled slightly and nodded. “Exactly,” he said and turned to the slides to continue the lesson.

Adora really tried to pay attention, but could barely focus under the gaze of the rest of the class. She thought they were all glaring at her for how she had phrased the statement, but she meant every word, even if it terrified her to be out.

Once class ended, she got up and tried to leave but was stopped by someone. It was the girl who sat behind her. She was very tall for a girl, a good half foot taller than Adora, and had curly blonde hair that was topped with a pink flower crown. The dress she wore was pink and went down to her knees that still showed off her light brown scandals. She was tan and had freckles all over her, framing her face and bright green eyes. In short, she was definitely a flower girl.

“Hello,” she said, hand out to Adora for her to shake, “I’m Perfuma, I sit behind you in History,”

Adora swallowed thickly and slowly shook her hand. “I know- why did you stop me?” she asked, since it had been a week and this was the first time this girl had approached her.

She blinked and smiled softly. “Oh, I was just wondering if what you said in class was as clear as I heard it,”

“Well the riots were-”

“No, no, you said ‘we’, are you gay?”

Adora tensed more and stepped back slightly in defense. “Why do you want to kn-”

“Oh no no!” Perfuma said almost instantly, digging into her backpack, “No, I was just asking because,” she pulled out a small flag that went pink, yellow, then blue, “I am too,”

Adora blinked and stared at the flag quietly. “I...um…” she swallowed again, “I- really?”

She nodded and waved the flag happily. “Yeah! We have a whole club!”

She stared at it in awe. “Can I join?” she asked instantly, looking up at her with big eyes.

“Yeah! In fact, we have a meeting after school,” she said, putting it away, “We meet in the art room,”

They talked about where that was for a moment before parting ways and leaving to get to their next class. Adora had the biggest grin on her face the whole time, which apparently was enough for some people to notice something was different.

“What’s got you so smiley?” Glimmer asked as she sat down for Animal Studies.

She looked up with a bigger grin. “Did you know there was a queer club at school?” she asked excitedly.

“Um...yeah…?” Glimmer said, kind of laughing, “I’m the co-founder and president of it,”

That made the blonde gasp. “Really?” she squealed, very excited now.

She stared at her before cracking a slight smile. “Um- yeah, Bow and I founded it in freshman year,”

“Bow’s gay too?” Adora gasped again, eyes wide.

“He’s trans,” Glimmer said, proud for her best friend, “I’m bi,”

Adora tilted her head. “I...um- I’m not all that knowledgable about- uh-”

The pink haired girl blinked, but smiled softly instead of getting defensive. “We can explain it all during today’s meeting, okay?”

She nodded and looked up at the bell and turned her attention to the board. She was going to be learning a lot today.

  
  


“Alright everyone!” Bow said when it hit 3:30, “Or- is everyone here?”

They did a quick rollcall for everyone before he nodded. “Yep, that’s everyone aaaaand someone new!” He exclaimed, doing a grand gesture to Adora, who was very red now, “Say hi!”

She blinked at the chorus of ‘hi’s that suddenly filled the room, but snorted at how silly it all was. She loved it.

“Now,” Glimmer said in her seat next to Bow, “We are going to be doing some fun crafts stuff, like finishing our frogs, but first, we thought we’d introduce ourselves to Adora,” 

The room got filled with some gasps and grins as people began to line up next to where Adora sat, making the girl suddenly very nervous. Were they going to punch her?

The answer was no, actually, in fact, everyone was really nice. They told her their names, pronouns, and sexuality once they got up to her, most of which Adora didn’t understand, but she smiled anyway. From what she remembered, there was Glimmer, Bow, Perfuma, a girl named Mermista, a freshman named Frosta, and a boy named Seahawk. She didn’t remember much else, but they stood out.

“Okay, now we’re going to go over some definitions,” Bow said with a happy clap, “And  _ then _ we can finish our frogs,”

Glimmer stood up and went to a whiteboard, beginning to write down definitions next to the stickers of the flag. Adora already knew gay, lesbian, and trans, but, on the board, there was also pan, bi, ace, nonbinary, and genderfluid. She stared at it all in awe while everyone else began to set up what they were working on.

Once she turned around, she saw everyone working on sculptures of frogs painted different flags. It was all so welcoming and nice, it almost made the former closeted teen cry.

“You okay?” Bow asked as he helped her paint her own a half hour later.

She nodded and brushed back the tears in her eyes, her grin the brightest thing in the room. “I...you guys are all so nice…” she whispered.

He smiled and patted her arm as Glimmer came back from washing her hands. “I’m glad you think so,”

“Yeah,” Glimmer said, wrapping an arm around her, “Welcome to Brightmoon, Adora,”

Bow copied Glimmer on Adora’s other side, both enveloping the crying girl in a hug. They really made her feel at home.

  
  


Catra glared at the essay she had gotten back in her History class about her favorite event in history. She and Adora had studied for hours to know about Stonewall, even though they knew Horde wouldn’t allow anything about it in the school.

_ “See me after class,” _ it read in bright red ink above her  _ F _ . She sighed and rubbed her eyes as she went up to the teacher’s desk, knowing full well she’d get scolded and possibly given detention.


	8. Scorpia Pince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Scorpia, the tough girl in class who's lack of hands is substituted by her warm heart. And Glimmer and Bow find something out about Adora.

As soon as the words ‘group project’ left Weaver’s mouth, Catra wanted to break the desk. She had always worked with Adora, but, oh no, that wasn’t going to happen, since it’s been nearly a month since she was gone. Yeah, Actra was mad.

“And Catherine, you’ll be working with Scorpia,” Shadow Weaver said, reading from a list in her hand as the bell rang, “I will give you the details on Monday,”

“Wait,” Catra said, confused because she didn’t know who that was, “Who’s tha-” She was interrupted when someone practically picked her up and completely crushed her.

“Hi!” someone said behind her. She screamed and scrambled out of their arms and back to the floor, looking up with a mix of fear and anger.

Standing in front of her was the biggest girl Catra had ever seen. She wore the same uniform as her, but it could barely fit around her shoulders, she was built like a linebacker. Her hair was stark white and had an undercut all around the sides. And to top it off, her hands weren’t even hands, they were prosthetics that looked like pincers on a crab. Catra really wished the way she looked matched her personality, though, because the second the two made eye contact, she smiled wide. 

“Hi!” she yelled again, “Sorry if i startled you, I’m a hugger,”

The absolutely terrified girl blinked. “ _ You’re _ Scorpia,”

She nodded, grinning at the girl below her. “Yep! I’m your partner for this project-thingy!”

Catra stared at her before glaring. “Well, don’t hug me,” she snapped, gathering her books, “I don’t like being touched,”

“Oh- oh, sure, Catherine-”

“It’s Catra,” she hissed through her teeth, shouldering her bag and beginning to walk out of the class. She groaned when Scorpia followed her.

“So what do you usually do after school?” she asked brightly as she followed at Catra’s heel.

Said girl stayed silent as she walked out of the school and towards the bus. Even when Scorpia followed her onto the bus. And when she followed her down the road to her house. She broke when she went inside though.

“Why are you following me!?” she snapped, letting out a breath she’d been holding.

Scorpia just paused and gave her a funny look, stuck between a laugh and mild confusion. “I live here, too, Catra,” she said, blinking, “I’m one of Ms. Weaver’s wards,” She moved to show the little badge they each wore, a green one with small wings on the front.

Catra blinked and stared at it. “Oh,” she said before just shaking her head, “Then how the hell have I never seen you here before?”

“Not sure,” Scorpia said sheepishly, following her up the stairs, “You’d usually be hanging out in your room or with that girl, Ado-”

“Don’t,” the smaller girl hissed, hands suddenly shaking with anger, “Don’t mention her, don’t ask me about her, and don’t you dare say her name. She’s dead to me,”

Scorpia stared at her and frowned before nodding. “Oh- yeah, sure- okay,” she mumbled, going into the bedroom to sit on her bunk and do some schoolwork they’d been assigned.

Catra watched her for a bit before going to her own bag and taking out some clothes. Her favorite denim jacket, maroon shirt, shorts, and black leggings. She still had on her frayed converse, but those were staying on.

“Where are you going?” Scorpia asked curiously, looking up from her notebook, “Don’t you have homework?”

Catra just ignored her and went into the bathroom to change, coming back a minute later and tossing her school uniform onto her bed. She got another backpack and shouldered it before going to the window.

“Catra?” 

She turned back around. “If you’re so curious about my life, why don’t you just follow me?” she snapped with a huff, jumping out of the window and climbing down a drain pole to the ground. 

Scorpia poked her head out and watched her before running downstairs and following out the door to see. 

Catra ended up in the park, climbing and swinging up her usual tree to sit down. Before getting spooked when the tree shook. “Ah!”

“Oh! Sorry about that!” Scorpia called, sitting against the bottom of the tree, “I just can’t climb that well!”

She stared down at the bigger girl and groaned. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Well, you said that if I really wanted to know where you were going that I should follow you,” she said brightly, smiling a bit.

Catra facepalmed and laid across a branch. “I didn’t- fine,” she muttered, “Just- don’t talk too much, I came here for the quiet,”

“Oh, okay,” she said and sat there for about two seconds before looking back up at Catra, “Why here, though, other people can come here,”

“Because,” she said, eyes still closed, “It’s peaceful to me,”

“Oh, okay, I thought it was because of-” she paused and coughed, “Ya know what? Nevermind, no one,”

“I know you were going to mention Adora,” she hissed down at her, growling, “What did I say?”

Scorpia had a sheepish look. “I actually don’t remember the exact details, just that you told me not to talk about her-”

“Well, the, maybe you should listen better,” Catra snapped at her and put on headphones, ignoring the girl completely. 

“Oh- well you see, I have ADD-” she frowned, “I don’t remember a lot of stuff unless I focus on it…” She sighed and looked down before smiling to herself. She could help Catra, she could be able to help her feel better since Adora left. She’d be able to help her find love.

She nodded and looked up in determination before blinking at the sound of a horn a mile off, trying to figure out if she knew the brand of car.

  
  


Adora laughed where she sat in a different park across town. This one was brighter and bigger and in a better neighborhood, with actual plants too. This place was a lot nicer than her old hangout place.

“Okay okay- so you’re telling me you had  _ never _ seen a horse before all of this?” Glimmer asked with a snort.

She shook her head as she sipped her strawberry smoothie. “Never! I didn’t know they were that big!” she said, snorting again, “And Bow- I also didn’t know your dad worked for the school,”

“Yeah, both of them do,” he said, snorting on his smoothie at her shocked face, “I’ve got two dads,”

She shook her head dramatically and gasped. “What!? That’s awesome!”

“You have no clue my mom is the principal, do you?” Glimmer asked, laughing when Adora gasped even louder and covered her mouth.

“No way!”

“Yes way!” the two said in unison

She made a weird noise and grinned. “That is so cool! You guys must get a lot of privileges during school hours,”

They glanced at each other and shrugged. “Not exactly,” Bow said, finishing his drink, “The only thing I get is extra study time, since I’m there to help George with the lessons. And since Lance, my other dad, is the librarian, I have extra books at home,”

“And my mom just trusts me more than other kids, but I still have just as much freedom as anyone else,” Glimmer said, wiping her mouth, “So, not really,”

Adora stared at the two of them. “Your...your parents sound so nice…” she mumbled softly, looking down.

“Well I’m sure yours are too,” Bow said, unaware, “We haven’t met them yet, but- wait, where are you going?”

He watched Adora stand up and throw the smoothie away. “I should get going back to my aunt…” she mumbled, “I’ll see you guys on Monday,”

He and Glimmer watched as she got her bag and went towards the bus, both confused. 

“Why do you think she had such a change of mood?” Glimmer asked as she finished.

Bow pondered as he cleaned up before gasping. “If she lives with her aunt-” he covered his mouth, “Do you think she has parents…?”

She blinked and stared at him before covering her own mouth. “Oh no-  _ that’s _ why she hasn’t talked about them,” she said, “Oh we have to make it up to her this Monday,”

“How?” he asked, but blinked when he saw the slightly mischievous look on his friend’s face.

“Oh, don’t worry, I have a plan,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, it is my personal headcannon that Scorpia has some form of ADD/ADHD, however, I know she may also be on the high functioning autism spectrum, but I'm not sure how to represent that. If any of you have any notes on how to portray Entrapta when she comes into the story, I'd be glad to here them so no one gets offended. Thank you!


	9. Loss of a Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora thinks about what used to be and how guilty she is, but Mara assures her that what she did was right.

_ “Mommy, what do I do if I meet someone with no mommy or daddy?” Adora asked suddenly, looking up from her first grade homework. _

_ Her mother looked up in surprise, putting down her own book. “Oh- um- why do you ask, sweetie?” _

_ “Because I met a girl a few days ago and I saw her at school today and the teacher asked us to talk about our parents for a report and she asked what to do if she doesn’t have any,” she said, almost like it was obvious to her seven year old brain. _

_ Her mom blinked and smiled softly. “Well, what to do, you asked?” _

_ She nodded and waited for the answer, her little feet swinging under her chair at the table. _

_ “Well you treat her just the same as you would any other little girl,” she said, poking her nose, “You’ll just have to remember to not ask if she can ask her mommy or daddy for something, because then she can’t,” _

_ Adora blinked at the boop, but nodded slowly. “So...she’s just like me?” she asked with a smile, “Just with no mommy or daddy? She’s just as special- oh! Even more special-er!” _

_ Her mother laughed and went back over her English work, because that was not a word. _

Adora jerked awake when the bus stopped suddenly and groaned. She had spaced out so much that she had missed her spot. She grudgingly got off the bus and looked around for any sign of where she was.

When she didn’t see anything, she began to walk down the street to find out which road she was on at least. She knew she wasn’t in a good neighborhood, with all the trash and glass in the streets and how often a police car drove by, but she had seen worse.

“Fright Zone- oh no,” she said, looking up at the sign. Now she knew where she was. She glanced to her left and saw the tall building where Weaver and her wards lived down the street. Where Catra lived. 

She shook herself off and quickly tried to make her way down the other way to get to her house, or at least the next bus stop. She was interrupted by someo e stepping out in front of her and colliding with her.

“Hey! Watch it!” a familiar voice screamed, shoving Adora away before pausing. Catra stared at her and growled. 

Adora opened her mouth to say something before looking up when she saw someone else coming. She instantly recognized Scorpia, white hair and all, and she was just as intimidating.

“Catra! Catra, you are  _ fas _ -” the bigger girl said before pausing, “Adora?”

“Hey, yeah, um, this is a big understanding-” she tried to say, but got shoved by Catra.

“Get out of here!” she screamed, hands curling into shaky fists, “You made it clear a month ago you weren’t coming near me! So go away!”

“Wait- Catra, please-”

She shoved her again and this time, Adora hit the ground. She stared up at her former friend and sighed.

“This, this exactly,” she mumbled, standing back up, “This is why I broke ties,”

She watched Catra’s face slowly morphed into just a hint of guilt before turning and leaving. “Scorpia, please just make sure that you know what’s good for you,”

Scorpia scowled slightly. “I may not know Catra well, but I know that she hasn’t done anything without reason,” she said defensively, “So...you go away, like she said,” She crossed her arms and glared, which would be scary to anyone who didn’t know her, and adora didn’t.

The blonde stared at the taller girl before giving her a look of pity and turning on her heel, leaving the street.

Catra watched and huffed. “You don’t know me,” she muttered, glaring up at her, “You still stood up for me, but you don’t know me,”

“You’re right,” Scorpia said, smiling warmly at her, “But I hope I can, Wildcat,”

She was taken aback by the sudden nickname, but silently let it slide as she continued her walk towards their shared foster home. 

Scorpia skipped at her heels happily, thinking she had found a permanent friend. 

  
  


Adora had ended up needing to call Mara when she got lost, watching out the window as the older woman drove.

She glanced at her niece and sighed. “So...what were you doing at Fright Zone?” she asked as she stopped gently for a red light.

She shrugged and sighed, watching as rain began to start to drizzle down the glass. “I missed my stop on the bus…” she mumbled, breathing on the glass and beginning to draw. It ended up as a cat face and she wiped it away.

“Are you sure you didn’t go because you missed-”

“No,” she whispered, “I...I made it clear that if she wasn’t going to support me having more friends, then I didn’t want to see her. And she…” She shut up and hugged her knees silently.

Mara sighed and kept driving. “Adora, I know you miss her, but you did do the right thing,” she said gently, “When it comes to friendship, there has to be some give and take from both. You gave too much and I’m so proud you did something for yourself,”

She wiped her face. “Then why do I feel so guilty when I think about her…?” she whispered as the car pulled into their new driveway.

“Because it never feels good to let go of a friend,” she said, putting her hand on her niece’s arm, “Did I ever tell you about my friend, Hope?”

Adora looked up and shook her head, wiping her eyes again. “No…” she mumbled 

Mara sighed and moved in her seat to face the younger girl. “Hope was my best friend,” she said, “She was my best friend all throughout highschool, up until my junior year,” She thought back to it. “She knew that I was friends with a lot of the popular kids, so that was when we would usually hang out, when my other friends were there,”

Adora nodded, slowly beginning to see where this was going. 

“Well, I began to see the patterns of when she would be okay with hanging out,” Mara continued, “If it was going to be just me and her, she would be busy, usually lying, but if someone else was there with us, she would have nothing in her schedule. She was using me to get with the popular girls,”

The blonde frowned and held her aunt’s hand. “Oh…”

“So, when I realized, I decided to stop inviting her to parties and events with my other friend,” she said gently, “And when she found out, she yelled at me and acted out. That was when I decided to cut ties and ignore her. I lost a friend that day,”

“You did the right thing, that wasn’t a friend,” Adora said, shocked when Mara shook her head.

“It hurts still when I think about that day,” she said, “Because losing a friend, even a toxic one, is still hard,”

Adora stared at her for a bit before sighing and nodding. She got out of the car with Mara and went upstairs to her room to hang out. She knew it was going to hurt for a while, but she didn’t want to get over Catra being gone.

What she wanted was for Catra to change and learn and be better than what she is. She wanted Catra to learn from what happened and try to be better. That’s what Adora wanted, even if it hurt her stomach to think about.

She sighed and got out the notebook she had been given. It was rainbow and sparkly, given to her by Glimmer to learn some of the definitions she had been given during the last Queer Club meeting.

She sat up and opened it to the first page, quietly reading each thing to herself and circling what she still didn’t understand. There was a lot, but she was willing to learn.

But one she did recognize, one of the first ones, and she kept going back to it. Lesbian. That’s what she was. She knew that’s what she was. She had known ever since she was a kid.

_ “Okay, okay, so we should practice,” Catra said, her middle school uniform wrinkled around her waist from Adora’s hug. _

_ Adora smiled slightly. “Okay, but on who?” she asked, making sure her uniform was proper. _

_ Her best friend shrugged. “Each other?” _

_ The blonde girl paused and stared at her. “People can-” she lowered her voice, “Girls are allowed to kiss other girls?” _

_ She nodded and leaned forward, kissing the corner of Adora’s mouth. “It’s called being gay,” _

_ Adora gasped and stared at her before leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on the other girl’s lips. They both giggled and did it again and again until they felt satisfied and left the park. Walking home, Adora felt like she was on Cloud 9. She, in middle school, had found out she was gay by kissing her best friend. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone else find out they were LGBTQA+ in middle school? Or was it just me?


	10. Entrapta Dryl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora gets a surprise from her new friends at school, which leads her to learn more about her new chemistry teacher. Meanwhile, Catra's gears begin to turn.

Monday morning was routine for Adora. Get up, eat breakfast of protein bars, brush teeth, get dressed, then go to school. It wasn’t that hard once she had gotten used to a month of being in the new house. She’d give her aunt and grandmother a kiss each and leave the house.

Most of the time, she’d walk, but, if it was raining, she’d hop on a bus, but it was sunny that morning, so she walked. Down the road two blocks, turn right, go up three blocks, and she was there at Brightmoon High. Her new favorite place.

She shouldered her backpack and went in, to her locker to socialize before the first bell rang. There, she would meet up with Bow and Glimmer, who would walk with her to where all their other friends were.

“Hey guys!” Adora said as she walked up to the group. She smiled before blinking when she saw they were all gathered around something. She was even more confused when Bow and Glimmer ran to huddle as well.

“Uh, guys?” she said, inching over and tapping Perfuma’s arm, “What’s going-”

“Surprise!” they all shouted, turning to show Adora a tub of cupcakes that spelled out  _ ‘We Love You’ _ in white icing on red cupcakes.

She blinked and stared at them in complete shock, stunned to silence, so Glimmer explained.

“We may have felt a little bit bad for asking a few too many personal questions on Monday,” he said sheepishly, “So we thought we’d get you some treats to apologize and officially initiate you into the friend group!”

Frosta, the youngest in the group, grinned big and held them up to her. “Go on! Try some! They’re red velvet!”

The rest of the group smiled and waited for her response. Oh, but they did not expect crying. They really didn’t expect their new friend to have a breakdown in the middle of the hall. 

Adora just cried quietly before Bow gently rubbed her back. “Adora…?”

She looked up. “Y-you gu-guys are my be-best friends…” she sobbed, hugging each of them before turning to the treats, “Ca-can I…?”

Frosta held them up for her to eat, smiling a bit. “Here ya go,”

She hiccuped and sat on the floor with everyone as they each ate one, Mermista trying to hide her slightly obvious tears of joy, Perfuma grinning ear to ear, Frosta trying to not be a messy eater, Bow just watching his friends be happy as he ate, and Glimmer licking the frosting off of hers.

“Thank you, guys…” she said quietly, “I really really appreciate it…”

They all nodded and gave her one, big group hug, squishing her with love. She sat there, feeling the most whole she’d ever felt, even if she tried to ignore the small hole in her chest. She knew who she was missing.

Everyone told Adora to save one of the last cupcakes, the smallest one, for her chemistry teacher, the one she shared a class with Bow, Glimmer, and Perfuma. She didn’t exactly understand why until she actually gave it to her. 

“Ooooh! Tiny!” the woman squealed, pulling off her mask, which was a welding mask to match her gloves. Not really something she needed, as a chemistry teacher.

That, however, wasn;t the first thing Adora noticed on her first day. What she noticed was the long long, purple pigtails that she had in her hair that she would use as hands, almost. She would grab the end and wave it around to gesture to the board or paper or the different stains on her dark purple overalls and brown boots.

“Yeah, it’s, uh-” she watched her eat it in one bite and spin in her chair.

“I love tiny foods! So does Emily!” she said, gesturing to the great dane next to her, which had a harness on it that said  _ ‘Service Dog’ _ , “She loves smaller foods,”

Adora tilted her head. “Well...you’re welcome,” she said, nodding a bit before jumping when her teacher gasped.

“Oh! Did I forget to thank you for it?” she asked, getting close, “I’m sorry, it’s just so yummy!” She began to go on a slight rant about the food before looking over to Emily, who made a ‘boof’ sound to get her attention. “Right, lesson today about the periodic table,”

She began to gather everything for it as Adora slowly went back to her desk, a little bit confused. “I never asked...why does she have a service dog…?”

“Hmm- oh,” Perfuma said, sighing slightly, “Emily is to help her with her autism and ADHD,”

She blinked and nodded slowly. “Oh...I could kinda see the...yeah,” she said, really not wanting to offend anyone.

“Oh, don’t worry, she doesn’t usually get offended by people talking about it,” Bow said, waving at their teacher with a smile, “It just affects her social skills, as well as a few of her motor ones, hence the use of her pigtails when she speaks,”

Adora watched her quietly before smiling. “A definite upgrade from my last chemistry teacher,”

  
  


Weaver had her arm wrapped around Catra’s arm tightly, dragging her to the principal’s office as the poor girl squirmed and tried to get away.

“Come on! It was just a stupid prank!” she hissed, trying to scratch through the thick gloves her chemistry teacher wore, “Why are you dragging me to Principal Hordak?”

“Because,  _ Catherine _ ,” she hissed, shoving her into a chair in front of the big desk where the principal usually sat, “There is still  _ bubblegum _ in my desk chair where it didn’t stick to  _ me _ ,”

The girl opened her mouth to retort, but fell completely silent when the office door opened, the principal of Horde High walking in.

He was a tall man, looking rather old for his age, even though he was only 30. His black hair was slicked back against his head, green eyes scanning the room for any sign of weakness. He walked with crutches, which made his whole look almost crash, even if the suit saved it a little bit. Overall, he was frightening.

“Principal Hordak,” Weaver said, combing through her own black hair and holding out a wad of bright pink gum stuck in it, “This wretched girl decided to put  _ bubblegum _ on my chair and stuck me to-” she got cut off when he held up his hand.

“I do not see why you are coming to me for this,” he stated in his cold voice, “It is my understanding that she is a ward in your foster home,”

“Well, yes, but-”

“Then why, pray tell, are you bringing this up with me?” he snapped, glaring down at her, “If the problem is her behavior, then it is reason to believe it stems directly from who raised her,”

Weaver stood there, spluttering, before grunting and folding her hands in front of her. “Yes, sir…”

He glared at her more before waving her out of the office. Catra got up and walked out with Weaver, who was positively fuming.

As her foster guardian fumed and ranted, she thought to herself. If she was bad and misbehaved here at school, Weaver would get reprimanded for it, because it is her job to make sure she doesn’t do stuff like that. Oh, this was going to be  _ fun _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I didn't offend anyone with autism with this chapter or any chapters after this, and I hope that I did Entrapta's characterization well.


	11. Crybaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Catra begins her mischievous journey to get Weaver fired from her school, she is reminded of her past and why she chooses to do what she does

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: there are mentions of self harm after the dream/flashback where Catra picks at her fingers until they bleed. Please be cautious and skip that part if it triggers you in any way.

Catra hummed to herself as she sat through chemistry, a bit more happy than usual. Weaver noticed and glared at her all throughout the lesson, but that didn’t stop the girl.

The bell rang and Catra got out of her seat, only to be stopped by her teacher and guardian with a firm hand on her shoulder.

“Catherine,” the older woman growled low, “What’s gotten you into such a mischievous mood?”

Said girl smirked and turned to her teacher with a sweet and innocent face. “What do you mean by that?” she asked, trying not to let her eyes betray her, “I was just smiling,”

“You never smile,” Weaver spat, growling again, “What did you do?”

The teen just smirked and walked out of the class to go to the park, leaving Weaver to stew in her own destructive thoughts.

“Catra!” someone yelled, startling the poor girl in the parking lot. She glanced to her side and saw Scorpia running over.

“What?” she snapped, shifting the bag on her back.

The bigger girl caught up with a pant. “What...did you...do to Weaver…?” she asked between gulps of air, “She seemed mad at...you…”

“I didn’t do anything,” Catra said, the smirk returning, “It was Weaver who needed to do a better job at raising me,”

She began to walk off again, humming to herself as she imagined Weaver getting yelled at by Hordak because Catra had decided that the top of his door was the best place for a bucket of brown paint. A little cliche, yes, but one of Catra’s favorite things to do.

“You know…” Scorpia said, keeping by Catra as she walked, “You’re gonna end up getting in trouble-”

Catra waved her hand to cut her off. “Hordak doesn’t blame me for anything I do. I’m one of his favorites,”

“I don’t mean with Principal Hordak,” the other girl was quietly, sighing from worry, “I meant from Weaver. You do realize she’s going to make your life miserable at ho-”

“Don’t call that place what I think you are,” the suddenly angry girl snapped, finally turning to face Scorpia, “That isn’t home. That’s hell. A hell that I have been living for years. A hell that just gets worse and worse as I get older. A hell that Weaver can’t  _ possibly _ make an even deeper hell than it already is!”

She had backed Scorpia against a lightpost on the sidewalk, the bigger girl stood tall and frozen, mouth shut tight and eyes wide as oceans. She held one prosthetic hand up to shield slightly from Catra’s raised hand, long, black nails ready to strike at anything that made her mad. They were getting stares.

Catra’s different eyes shrunk into a glare. “I don’t care about Weaver or what she does. I only care about getting out of that  _ hell _ the first second I get,” she hissed before turning on her heel and walking off.

Scorpia watched quietly, terrified form slowly falling into one of pity. She knew that Catra was lying. That she snapped at her because she really  _ was _ scared. She’s terrified of Weaver. But weakness has been Catra’s downfall before.

  
  


_ The small girl was curled up behind the school, wiping her wet eyes. She clutched a small piece of paper that read “Happy Mother’s Day” against her chest. _

_ “I-I don’t have a mommy to gi-give it to-” she whispered to herself with huge tears rolling down her face like waves. _

_ She was shocked out of her sobbing by two girls standing above her. One snatched the paper out of her hand and looked it over, showing the other girl and making them both snicker. _

_ “Aww! Is the kitty crying because she doesn’t have a mommy?” she taunted, cooing in a baby voice. _

_ Catra got up and went to snatch the paper, but the girls were two grades above the small third grader, so they easily kept it out of her reach. _

_ “Give it back!” she screamed at them, tears pouring out faster. _

_ “Why? So you can give it to your mommy- ow!” one girl screamed, she dropped the paper to hold the back of her head. Her friend turned around only to be met by another ball similar to the one that hit the first. But, this time, in the face. They both began crying loudly and ran off. _

_ Catra snatched the paper and looked up, Adora helping her to her feet. “Thanks…” _

_ “They’re bullies,” the tiny blonde said angrily, putting her arm around her even tinier friend, “They’re just jealous that you’re super cool, even without help,” _

_ She sniffled and wiped her face off again. “Thank you...but, if I cry about silly stuff...like this,” she gestured to the slightly ripped paper, “I’m just a crybaby,” _

_ She began to rip the paper even more, shaking slightly as the pieces got smaller and smaller. Adora sighed and gently held her, watching bits escape and flutter to the ground. _

A yellow eye slowly opened, followed by a blue. They both were filled with tears, but they were quickly wiped away by a cold, rough hand. The owner of the eyes pressed her back further against the hard bark of the tree she was in. [TRIGGER WARNING]

“I will not be a crybaby,” she muttered to herself, picking at the skin around her nails. It was a habit she had gotten into in middle school to help her get her mind off of her awful life. She didn’t care if her friends told her it was bad, the slight bits of pain helped her stay where she was.

After a while, she wiped the drops of blood onto her pants and hopped down from the tree, walking the blocks towards her foster home. [TRIGGER END]

“You!” A very angry voice yelled as she opened the door. Catra looked up with a blank face to see Weaver running at her, eyes ablaze with anger.

The woman stopped in front of the girl, hands out slightly in a vaguely threatening gesture. “You pranked the  _ principal _ !?” she screamed, causing some of the younger kids to look over worriedly. The older kids just kept vibing.

“Yeah,” Catra said, expression still neutral despite her caretaker’s very obvious aggression, “What of it?”

“Do you have any idea of what you could’ve done!?” she screamed again, grabbing the girl’s arm. Before she could get her point across, Catra dug her nails into her hand, shoving her away.

“I know every bit of what I could’ve done,” She hissed, stepping back, “And I have every intention of doing things to achieve it,”

Weaver growled and glared at her. “I’ll make your life a living hell,” she snapped, going to grab her again.

Catra ducked out of the way and began ascending the stairs towards her room. “You already have,” she said, smiling a little bit, “And now, it’s my turn,”

With those words, she walked up the stairs, leaving Weaver in silent fury.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! I'm sorry this took so long to post, but I was struggling both mentally and creatively, so I took a bit of a break. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> If you guys have title suggestions, I'd love to hear them.


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